Hudson Valley Region, October 2013

FIRM EXPANSIONS AND CONTRACTIONS

Hudson Valley Region

October 2013

New York State Department of Labor

Division of Research and Statistics

120 Bloomingdale Road, Room 218

White Plains, NY 10605

914-997-8798

This briefing provides information on firm-specific hiring and layoff announcements in the Hudson Valley. The information in this report is derived from press releases, newspapers, business journals, newsletters and other public sources. It does not include all expansions and contractions in the region – only those for which public information has been obtained. An attempt is made to present only current information – events that have recently occurred or will occur in the near future.

BUSINESS EXPANSIONS FOR THE HUDSON VALLEY REGION

Dutchess County

Ben's Kosher Delicatessen and Caterers announced plans to open a Kosher Delicatessen on Central Park Avenue in Scarsdale. Unlike the other Ben's locations, this restaurant will be the first with a second story catering venue and the second location to have a full bar. Ben operates in six other locations, including three in Long Island, and one each in Manhattan, Queens and Boca Raton, Fla. No job numbers were announced.

Orange County

McDonald's announced plans to demolish its restaurant on North Plank Road and build a larger one. The company filed an application with the Town of Newburgh Planning Board to build a 5,200 square-foot restaurant with 107 indoor seats and a two-lane drive-through. Construction will begin in June 2014 and last three months. No job numbers were announced.

Rite Aid will open a new store on Pike Street in Port Jervis. The company recently broke ground on construction of the new 15,000 square-foot pharmacy. No job numbers were announced.

Putnam County

Nothing to report.

Rockland County

(Update)The Shops at Nanuet celebrated its grand opening on October 10, 2013. The new 750,000 square-foot open air mall replaces the old Nanuet Mall which closed on January 31, 2012. In addition to existing anchor stores Macy's and Sears, the Shops at Nanuet debuted new anchor store Fairway Market, along with a broad collection of fashion and specialty retailers including Coach, Lululemon Athletica, Michael Kors, J. Crew, Vera Bradley, J. Jill, Sur La Table, Jos. A. Bank, Brighton Collectible, Soma Intimates, Lovesac, LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetic. Forty more stores will open by the end of the year. It is estimated that the new mall will create 1,000 new retail jobs, on top of the 1,600 construction jobs produced during its 18-month construction period.

Sullivan County

Misa Chang, a Manhattan developer plans to unveil a $120 million resort/spa and golf course for the Town of Fallsburg in Sullivan County. Chang’s Davos Resort USA plans features a 101-room hotel; an 18-hole, 6,415 yard golf course; an organic greenhouse where Chinese herbs will be grown; a ski lodge; a winery; and as many as 100 condos surrounding the golf course. The multi-million dollar project is not dependent on the passage of a constitutional amendment before voters in November that could bring casinos to the Catskills. The resort will be marketed as a destination for people that are interested in healthy living. Ms. Chang is partially financing the project by recruiting Chinese investors through the EB-5 program- which was set up so that wealthy foreigners can get fast-tracked green cards in exchange for investing up to $1million in projects that might create jobs in the U.S.According Chang, the resort will create 1,744 direct jobs and as much as 3,000 indirect ones.

Walmart opened a new superstore on October 16, 2013 in the Town of Wawarsing in Ulster County. The retail giant has several stores throughout the region. The New York State Department of Labor’s DEWS staff has been assisting Walmart with their recruitment efforts to fill about 75 positions. These positions included the following: cashiers (5); household/lawn garden associate (5); sales floor associate (10); overnight produce/dairy (5); overnight stocker (10); receiving associate (5); courtesy desk associate (5); people greeter (5); and maintenance cleaner (10).

Ulster County

The Perfect Fit Just For You, L.L.C., a custom wig shop, celebrated its grand opening in Kingston on October 31, 2013. No job numbers were announced.

Westchester County

Kidville, a children's learning and play center, will open a new location in Mount Kisco in early November 2013. Construction of the new facility began in September and no job numbers were announced.

Pace University recently broke ground on a $100 million, 5-year, multi-phase project that will enable the school to consolidate functions that are now split between campuses in Pleasantville and Briarcliff. Currently 690 students live on the Pleasantville campus and 590 in Briarcliff. The town of Mount Pleasant voted recently to approve the site plan for the Pace's $100 million construction project. The first phase of the project, which will take three years to complete, will include two new four-story residence halls with a small dining facility, classrooms, study lounges and faculty apartments. A new multipurpose athletic field, a new field house and a grass softball field will also be included. No job numbers were announced.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in the United States, recently broke ground on a $100 million expansion of its headquarters in Westchester County. Company and elected officials staged a ground-breaking ceremony on October 28, 2013 on the north side of the Landmark at Eastview property at 777 Old Saw Mill River Road in Tarrytown for the construction of two new buildings that will add 300,000 square feet of office and laboratory space and add 400 new high-paying jobs by the time the expansion is completed in late 2015. Regeneron will receive $8.5 million from the Excelsior Jobs Program and other incentives from the Mount Pleasant Industrial Development Agency. The company currently occupies about 700,000 square feet of space at the office park, mostly on the south of Old Saw Mill River Road in Greenburgh and its workforce has nearly tripled since 2007. Locally it employs an estimated 1,500 employees. It has an estimated 700 employees at its Rennsselear facility near Albany, where it also plans to add another 300 jobs. Regeneron also celebrated its designation as the top biopharmaceutical employer in the world by Science magazine for the second year in a row. Dr. George D. Yancopoulos, Regeneron’s President, said the firm is an exception in the biotech industry.“Few companies ever imagine the series of successes you all deliver time and again,” said Yancopoulos, citing the company’s positive report on Oct. 21 of phase-three datafor its EYLEA anti-blindness drug and its Oct. 16 announcement of positive results for a cholesterol-reduction drug, among other triumphs.

Tappan Zee Constructors L.L.C., the state’s design-build contractor on the $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project recently began installing the first permanent steel piles for the new Hudson River crossing on October 16, 2013, making it officially the start of the project. The pilings that will hold up the new bridge are now going into the river at the main span at the middle of the river. The bridge builder’s contract calls for completion of the twin spans between Rockland and Westchester counties by April 2018.Construction cameras are being installed so that the public can monitor the project’s progress at newnybridge.com.

The Galleria at White Plains, an indoor shopping mall, is undergoing renovations and adding 11 new stores. The new stores are to include: Vans, Zumiez, Stride Rite, P.S. Aeropostale, Famous Footwear, Rue 21 and Garage, Blink Fitness, Verizon Wireless, iFix and Repair, and The Line Closet. No final job numbers were announced.

BUSINESS CONTRACTIONS FOR THE HUDSON VALLEY REGION

Dutchess County

Nothing to report.

Orange County

St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital announced plans to reduce its workforce by 60 positions. About 35 people will be laid off while the rest of the reductions involve vacant positions that will not be filled. According to hospital officials, no bedside nurse will be impacted. The workforce reduction is expected to save the hospital $3.2 million at a time when it faces a $10 million operating loss. The financial struggles stems from a decline in in-patient volume and a reduction in medical reimbursements.

Putnam County

Nothing to report.

Rockland County

Rockland Transit Corporation filed a WARN notice on October 10, 2013 with the New York State Department of Labor in anticipation of a mass layoff. The company, anticipating the loss of contract with Rockland County, will lay off 55 employees between November 3rd and November 17th, at its facility in Valley Cottage.